by Mark Raudenbush
Ah the summertime! The traffic on the roads, the restaurants and reefs settle down.  The kids are home from school, the pace here at Wolcott Marine slows down enough that I can finally take some time to be able to get out on the water and use my boats from time to time.
I have just recently completed a substantial refit on one of my own boats. A 1999 Action Craft 1802. That process was once again a lesson in the fine line between repair and replace. In this case the boat perfectly suited my needs, there wasnât a compelling reason to get rid of this one, just to by a new version of the same boat. Which is what I would have done. There was allot of sentimental attachment to the boat itself.  After all Iâve fished this boat for nearly 20 years, caught nearly every sort of bay and back water fish that Florida has, collected scallops and lobster, seashells and driftwood, as well as innumerous beach trips, sunsets and quite a share of cold beverages and boat snacks. You name it there isnât much that little flats boat can do that we didnât do over these last many years. With the refit that little skiff is now ready for twenty more years.
But it wasnât easy.  Pretty much every spare moment of the last six or eight weekends was spent fiberglassing, buffing, installing new fixtures, pulling wires, installing radios, GPS, transducers, you name it. Some of my non-boater friends would shake their heads and wonder why.  Why do boats and boating compel such passion and determination.  Some folks just will never understand.  But for myself and my family, we know. We know that most of the best family memories we share are framed by boats and boating. And to be fair, in that collective of memories, there are great ones and not so great ones. The picture-perfect days catching more dolphin than youâd ever care to clean and cook. My sonâs first sailfish. The time we beached the boat for a picnic that turned into a 12-hour odyssey. Lightning strikes, waterspouts, running out of gas, or dead batteries; itâs all part of the sport.
Our family, we filled that little skiff and our other boats, to the top with those memories. And if it takes a little gelcoat work and rewiring to keep the vessel holding those memories afloat, itâs worth every penny!
So, if you have a boat, gather the family and get in it and make some memories. If that old boat needs a little work before you set out on that trip, weâll be glad to help get your craft ready. If you donât have a boat or the one you have isnât big enough or safe enough for the family, come see us and weâll put you in the right boat. In any case, for memories sake, get out there and enjoy some summer boating.